Susan Lucci Broadway Interview

[Jonathan]

Return from the dead, only to die again?

[Khan]

Here's something Erica could do that she hasn't before (and that's (somewhat) logical): Erica participates in a new reality series where celebrities research their genealogies, and she discovers her father, the late Eric Kane, was actually Jewish! This discovery sets her on a path toward eventual conversion to Judaism (just in time for Hanukkah).

[DRW50]

I forgot he was dead. I only remembered the clown stuff.

[SFK]

Over Susan's dead Roman Catholic body! J/K, but, uh, when I was a kid I always thought she was Jewish.

[SFK]

I've said this a couple of times before, but I am a big fan of a "family" story for Erica. Maybe a (non-character damaging!) secret Mona kept or something. Erica's already had two surprise siblings so maybe not that contrived, but... something...

[Jonathan]

I agree. The show has never explored Mona's side of the family. That's untapped territory right there.

[Khan]

You know, in all my years of following AMC, I don't recall hearing much about Eric and Mona's lives before Erica was nine years old (when Eric left the family for Hollywood). Has the show ever even mentioned the backstories of Erica's parents?

Now, this might conflict with what has been established, but here's how I've always pictured it:

Mona was born and raised in Independence, Missouri. During the summer of her seventeenth year, she met the slightly older Eric (whose actual last name was "Kruger," but who changed it to the more regal-sounding "Kane"), who was part of an acting troupe that put on productions of Shakespearean and other dramas throughout the Midwest. Eric was drawn to Mona's sweet nature; and Mona was dazzled by Eric's dashing good looks and charm. Unfortunately, Mona's father, dry-goods store proprietor Matthew Van Druten, forbade their romance, believing that a "common actor" w/ no steady income was not a proper suitor for his daughter. He preferred for Mona to finish her last year of high school and then either attend business school or marry someone more suitable. However, on the night Eric and the rest of his troupe were supposed to leave town, Mona made the fateful decision to leave home and be with Eric. Although she tried years later to mend fences with her dad, Matthew had effectively disowned Mona, forbidding the rest of the family even to mention her name in his presence.

Meanwhile, Eric and Mona were married by a justice-of-the-peace; and for awhile, they were happy. They settled in Pine Valley, where Eric got a job as professor of speech and drama at Pine Valley High. The pressures and demands of being a husband and father began to overwhelm Eric, however; and he started questioning whether he'd made the right decision to give up his dreams of becoming a movie star. Eventually, when Erica was nine years old, Eric did leave for Hollywood, along with a student of his that he'd been having an affair with. (The girl's name was Gladys...but she preferred the nickname "Goldie.") Left alone with a daughter to raise, Mona finished her education, then landed a job as secretary to Pine Valley Hospital's then-new Chief of Staff, Dr. Charles Tyler.

Now, cut to the present, and the arrival of Fusion's newest employee, Allison ("Allie") Van Druten. She is a native of Detroit, and a recent U. of Mich. grad. Allie is also among the inaugural group of recruits for Fusion's executive training program for recent female college grads. Erica is impressed with Allie's efforts at impressing her superiors at work, but Kendall, Bianca, even Greenlee find all the glad-handling more than somewhat suspicious. Together, the three decide to check into the girl's background.

They track down Allie's older brother, Matt, a doctor on-staff at a Detroit hospital. Kendall elects to travel there and speak with him; however, a last-minute emergency at Fusion (namely, the launch of the "Fusion Sport" line, which Bianca and Kendall are personally overseeing, hits a snag thanks to their spokesperson's arrest for drunk driving) dictates a change in plans. Greenlee, rather than Kendall, travels to Detroit to meet Matt. From the outset, sparks fly between the two, but once Matt realizes Allie is working for Erica Kane, he explains to Greenlee how he and Allie, along with their younger siblings Marta and Kevin, are related to the Kanes. (Their grandfather, Nils, was Mona's brother.)

Indeed, a letter from Nils that Erica finds among Mona's remaining personal effects bears this out. In the letter, Nils, now deceased, expresses his thanks for Mona's well-wishes on the occasion of Matt, then a recent prep school graduate, being named a Rhodes Scholar. He also expresses his sorrow over the years of strained relations between her and their father (although it is inferred or implied in the letter that Nils went against Matthew's wishes and secretly kept in touch with Mona), and how he wishes she, Erica and their family were closer to theirs, and vice-versa. With this newfound knowledge, Erica welcomes second-cousin Allie into the Kane women's fold with open arms - with Bianca and Kendall coming around...eventually.

From there, of course, you have the gradual integration of the Van Druten clan onto AMC's canvas.

* Unexpectedly, Matt has a connection or two in town: he knows Jake and Cara from their time together in Doctors Without Borders. (He also remembers David from Stanford, where Dr. Hayward managed to steal Matt's then-girlfriend, Allie Doyle.) His real reason for being in town, however, is to pursue Greens - although, he'll be momentarily distracted when his sister and Dr. Hayward begin dating. (Matt: "You must have a thing for girls named Allie." David: "So do you.") Matt and Greenlee will especially grow close once Matt is picked to be the spokesperson for Greenlee's controversial (among the others @ Fusion) new line targeted toward men.

* Down the road, then, Marta, a flirtatious pre-law student, transfers to PVU from U. Mich. in order to be closer to Matt and Allie, as well as to get out from under their parents' thumb. She could be a vixenish character who throws a monkey wrench in Caleb and Erica's relationship, seducing him away from her while dating Asher. When she becomes pregnant with Asher's baby, though, she tries to pass it off as Caleb's, in order to ensure it (and she) has access to the Cortlandt fortune. (Asher and Caleb have had a major falling out by this point over business, leading to Caleb's cutting his own son out of his will.) But Colby, still smarting from losing Asher, will expose Marta's misdeeds on the day she and Caleb are to marry.

* Kevin, the youngest of the four and a budding writer, arrives in Pine Valley the same time as their parents: John, Erica's first-cousin, who becomes pastor at the local Lutheran church; and Sarah, whom Opal quickly recognizes as someone who worked with Jenny @ Foxy's in Center City. This creates a scandal, as well as some tension in the Van Drutens' marriage, but John will manage to remain as pastor, thanks to the efforts of some of Pine Valley's citizens. And Kevin will begin attending Pine Valley High, where he becomes a star member on the basketball team. However, he also becomes embroiled in a love triangle between SORAS'ed Emma Lavery and Kathy Martin.

[SFK]

Kahn, you are dangerous because I begin reading your stuff and accepting it as fact. I especially liked the portrait of young Eric the PVH drama/speech teacher and his bubbling Hollywood aspirations. I also like that you named one of Mona's nieces Marta, one of Frances Heflin's daughters' names.

[AMCFan2]

I'd take either one of these. It would be great stuff for Susan to play but if the baby dies or is switched I pass. Also, it has to be Jack's . The idea of another Caleb Cooney with that puss on his face, makes me ill.

[Kylie]

^It's neither of those. LOL This is K&S, they don't think outside the box. They do camp and melodrama out of nowhere.

[EricMontreal22]

I've not found the show very campy since they joined at all, but maybe it's cuz I watch OLTL right after. In fact during some of their boring periods some camp could have been welcome.

Khan re Eric's past--what I never got was his clown storyline (much hated)--did they just forget that when we later found out about the rape and his death?

[SFK]

Besides the fact that bringing up his circus clown past would undermine the seriousness of the addiction story they were trying to sell, the whole clown thing was over and done with well within Eric'a s/l years earlier. By the time he left Pine Valley, he was wearing suits and working at Enchantment. Traveling with the circus is something he picked up after the death of his film career.

[EricMontreal22]

Right, but it does seem odd that they completely failed to mention she even befriended him or whatever.

[SFK]

Ah, I see what you're saying. Yeah, IIRC, they made no reference to his time in Pine Valley in '89/'90.

[Khan]

I think that's because the "Barney the Clown" story was and is generally regarded as a misfire. It's like OLTL revisiting the similarly panned Clint/Viki/Echo storyline; why go to the trouble of reminding people about a story that was not well-received in the first place?